The pinnacle of survival horror and one of the greatest games ever made. It's been over 20 years and I still love it just as much if not more.
Survival horror gameplay is so satisfying, especially in Resident Evil Remake. When you start out you feel like a mouse trapped in a violent maze. Then you start to learn the map, figure things out, get better and make your way through. Then the replays begin. You go from fumbling your way through to attempting things like harder difficulties, speed runs, no save runs, no hit runs, etc. It is so enjoyable, rewarding and fun. If there was any game I could forget and experience all over again it would probably be this.
Every enemy encounter is meaningful because they don’t go down quickly and you have to consider the risk, limited resources, item management and backtracking. When you approach a zombie or hear one around the corner you need to stop and make a decision. Do I take it out or try to run past? Is there another way to go? How much health and/or ammo do I have? How much health and ammo is back in the item box? When am I going back to the item box? How often am I going to come back here? If I put it down will I come back and burn it so it doesn’t get back up? What do I do if I get hit? Do I have any self defence items? How much progress will I lose if I die? The game allows you to screw yourself and never holds your hand but this makes overcoming it so much sweeter. It is utterly fantastic.
Then on top of this there is enjoyable exploration through creepy, atmospheric environments that you slowly unlock your way further into. With tense action against tough, scary enemies that forces you to stand your ground or run. The weapons hit hard and can produce graphic headshots and you can die just as horrifically. And the puzzles that are just right. Nasty traps, horror, gore and jump scares. This game recipe is f**king exquisite.
The presentation is stellar. The fixed camera angles allow the developers to perfectly frame the whole game to increase the atmosphere, horror and player discomfort, and to highlight or hide things for the player. The visuals and art direction are excellent. The environments are gorgeous and detailed or dirty and gruesome when needed. The mansion is stunning and has so much atmosphere. It is my favourite video game location ever, it’s that good. The character and enemy models are great. The game is getting old now but still looks so good. Of course the audio is top notch too. The music, sound effects and ambient noises are so well done but they also knew when to have restraint and it’s all such a big part of the game's unnerving atmosphere.
I love the characters, story, lore and dialogue too. The history of the mansion, Umbrella and the experiments is fun to dive into and all the notes/diaries/documents are worth reading. Jill, Chris, Barry, Rebecca, Wesker, even poor Richard, I love them all. The famous dialogue is a joy as is the B horror movie vibe.
The only thing I can think of that is wrong is that I wish there was more of it and that we still got games like this regularly. A little bit longer, more options, more unlockables, more variety on further playthroughs. But I’m probably just being greedy, this game is near perfect. The only other issue is that the cave and laboratory areas are not as memorable as the mansion and residence for me.
It improves on everything from the original while staying true to that vision. It doesn’t really throw anything away or remix stuff too much. It just makes it better and the new additions fit in so well it’s like they were always meant to be there.
Go play this now if you've never tried it. I’m serious, I don’t care what your plans are. If you’ve never played Resident Evil Remake, fix that as soon as possible. I’m jealous that you get to experience this for the first time and wish I could again. Give it some time, you will get used to the older gameplay style and find it really works for this type of game. I hope as many people as possible enjoy this. Resident Evil Remake is how remakes should be done and how well games in general should be done.
9.7/10
Survival horror gameplay is so satisfying, especially in Resident Evil Remake. When you start out you feel like a mouse trapped in a violent maze. Then you start to learn the map, figure things out, get better and make your way through. Then the replays begin. You go from fumbling your way through to attempting things like harder difficulties, speed runs, no save runs, no hit runs, etc. It is so enjoyable, rewarding and fun. If there was any game I could forget and experience all over again it would probably be this.
Every enemy encounter is meaningful because they don’t go down quickly and you have to consider the risk, limited resources, item management and backtracking. When you approach a zombie or hear one around the corner you need to stop and make a decision. Do I take it out or try to run past? Is there another way to go? How much health and/or ammo do I have? How much health and ammo is back in the item box? When am I going back to the item box? How often am I going to come back here? If I put it down will I come back and burn it so it doesn’t get back up? What do I do if I get hit? Do I have any self defence items? How much progress will I lose if I die? The game allows you to screw yourself and never holds your hand but this makes overcoming it so much sweeter. It is utterly fantastic.
Then on top of this there is enjoyable exploration through creepy, atmospheric environments that you slowly unlock your way further into. With tense action against tough, scary enemies that forces you to stand your ground or run. The weapons hit hard and can produce graphic headshots and you can die just as horrifically. And the puzzles that are just right. Nasty traps, horror, gore and jump scares. This game recipe is f**king exquisite.
The presentation is stellar. The fixed camera angles allow the developers to perfectly frame the whole game to increase the atmosphere, horror and player discomfort, and to highlight or hide things for the player. The visuals and art direction are excellent. The environments are gorgeous and detailed or dirty and gruesome when needed. The mansion is stunning and has so much atmosphere. It is my favourite video game location ever, it’s that good. The character and enemy models are great. The game is getting old now but still looks so good. Of course the audio is top notch too. The music, sound effects and ambient noises are so well done but they also knew when to have restraint and it’s all such a big part of the game's unnerving atmosphere.
I love the characters, story, lore and dialogue too. The history of the mansion, Umbrella and the experiments is fun to dive into and all the notes/diaries/documents are worth reading. Jill, Chris, Barry, Rebecca, Wesker, even poor Richard, I love them all. The famous dialogue is a joy as is the B horror movie vibe.
The only thing I can think of that is wrong is that I wish there was more of it and that we still got games like this regularly. A little bit longer, more options, more unlockables, more variety on further playthroughs. But I’m probably just being greedy, this game is near perfect. The only other issue is that the cave and laboratory areas are not as memorable as the mansion and residence for me.
It improves on everything from the original while staying true to that vision. It doesn’t really throw anything away or remix stuff too much. It just makes it better and the new additions fit in so well it’s like they were always meant to be there.
Go play this now if you've never tried it. I’m serious, I don’t care what your plans are. If you’ve never played Resident Evil Remake, fix that as soon as possible. I’m jealous that you get to experience this for the first time and wish I could again. Give it some time, you will get used to the older gameplay style and find it really works for this type of game. I hope as many people as possible enjoy this. Resident Evil Remake is how remakes should be done and how well games in general should be done.
9.7/10
FallenGrace
7 months ago